Loop Players
Fences
A play by August Wilson
Study Guide
November 13, 2013 – November 23, 2013
Produced by the department of
English, Speech, and Theatre
Harold Washington College
Directed by
Kathryn Nash
Assistant Professor
Study Guide written/compiled by Larnell Dunkley, Jr., Assistant Professor & Chair
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Fences
CAST
Troy Maxon
Jim Bono (Troy’s friend)
Rose (Troy’s wife)
Cory (Troy and Rose’s son)
Lyons (Troy’s oldest son)
Gabriel (Troy’s brother)
Raynell (Troy’s daughter)
Joseph Staples
Damon Eubanks
Alberta Gordon
Jaegen Ellison
Semaj Miller
Marvin Gilbert
Mia Moore
Harmony Jones
Understudies Mickey Grayer (Bono & Gabriel); Ti Nicole Dandridge (Rose); Deon
Merriweather (Cory); Jeremy Jones (Lyons)
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Table of Contents
Biography of August Wilson
The Pittsburgh Cycle
The Hill District
African Americans and
Baseball
Notable Historical Events in
1957
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8
10
Fences: Performance History
Themes and Symbols
Study Questions and Activities
Further Readings
References
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Biography of August Wilson
August Wilson (1945—2005) is considered one of America’s
greatest playwrights. His “Pittsburgh Cycle,” a series of ten
plays which depict the lives of African-Americans during each
decade of the twentieth-century, vividly illustrates Wilson’s
desire to utilize the theatrical stage as a vehicle to present to the
American public the African-American experience.
Wilson was born Frederick Kittel in the racially diverse area of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, known as “The Hill.” As the fourth
child of an interracial couple, Wilson did not have a close
relationship with his biological father. Following his parents’
divorce and his mother’s remarriage to David Bedford, Wilson’s
family later moved to a predominately white neighborhood.
However, this experience exposed Wilson to more racism.
Additionally, the accusation of plagiarism by school officials
resulted in Wilson dropping out of high school.
After a brief stint in the army, Wilson decided to pursue his goal of becoming a writer in 1963. Soon
after, he helped form the Center Avenue Poets Theatre Workshop, where he first heard the music of
Bessie Smith, an important influence on Wilson’s work. Wilson later helped establish the Black Horizons
Theatre Company in “The Hill” and became active in the Civil Rights Movement. Wilson continued to
publish various poems and married a Muslim woman, Brenda Burton, in 1969. He later became a father
to a daughter, Sakina Ansari, in 1970.
Unfortunately, Wilson’s family became the product of a divorce and these personal difficulties spurred
Wilson to continue his writing career. In 1973, Wilson began to pursue writing plays. He saw an early
work, Rite of Passage, performed in a local community theatre. Encouraged by this work’s success,
Wilson later wrote The Homecoming, a play produced in 1989 and considered an early version of his first
Broadway success, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. The Homecoming is noteworthy for its incorporation of
African-American cultural icons and traditional black art forms. However, many literary critics consider
the play, Black Bart and the Sacred Hills, first produced in St. Paul, Minnesota, to be Wilson’s first
significant entry to the theatrical world.
By 1979, Wilson moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, and shortly afterwards began work on his play Jitney,
which was initially rejected by the Eugene O’Neil Theatre Center National Playwrights Conference but
later produced by the Allegheny Repertory Theatre. Wilson continued to develop others works and
experienced rejection but his determination to succeed as a writer never failed.
The early 1980s marked a turning point in Wilson’s career for several reasons. First, the playwright
began work on the play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which was first accepted for workshop production at
the Eugene O’Neil Theatre Center and later opened on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 1984. Second,
Wilson formed a collaborative relationship with the center’s director and dean of the Yale Drama School,
Lloyd Richards. These successes signaled the beginning of a creative output of dramatic works that
would reflect Wilson’s genius as a masterful storyteller.
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Wilson’s success as a dramatist continued in New York when he became a member of the New
Dramatists and began work on his next play, Fences. This play was written partially to address critics’
concern that Wilson could not produce a work that adhered to a traditional format: an emphasis on one
major character. In response, Wilson created his most popular character, Troy Maxson, a disillusioned
garbage collector who believes racism prevented him from playing major league baseball. It is this
concern which serves as a central conflict between Troy and his son Cory. Fences won the New York
Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Tony Award, and the Pulitzer Prize in 1987.
Similarly, Wilson was selected as Artist of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and received the John
Gassner Outer Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Playwright.
Wilson’s critical success as a dramatist continued through the early twentieth-first century with a series of
notable plays. These include Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1984) and The Piano Lesson (1986), which
also received the Pulitzer Prize. Other works include Two Trains Running (1990), Seven Guitars (1995),
King Hedley III (2001), Gem of the Ocean (2003), and Radio Golf (2005).
The dramatist’s personal life experienced significant upheavals as well. Wilson later remarried and
divorced a social worker, Judy Oliver, in 1981. He remarried again in 1994 to a costume designer,
Constanza Romero, and fathered a daughter, Azula Carmen Wilson. Sadly, Wilson was diagnosed with
liver cancer. In 2005, the playwright died in Seattle, Washington, and was later buried in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. In honor of his memory, the Virginia Theatre in New York City’s was renamed the August
Wilson Theatre. This is the first theatre named after an African-American.
Source: Andrews, William L., Frances Smith Foster, and Trudier Harris. The Oxford Companion to
African American Literature. New York: Oxford U P, 1997.
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The Pittsburgh Cycle
August Wilson’s plays constitute a body of work known as “The Pittsburgh Cycle” (also known as “The
Century Cycle”). These works, nine of which are set in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a
predominately African-American neighborhood, are designed, through Wilson’s artistry, to present a
different facet of the African-American experience through each decade of the twentieth-century. Wilson
uses the theater to allow audience members to realize African-Americans, of all walks of life and
experiences, are a significant part of the American experience that deserves recognition and appreciation.
Furthermore to varying degrees, “The Pittsburgh Cycle” addresses the legacy of slavery and its impact on
the lives of the characters.
In terms of storylines, the plays are loosely connected. Some characters may appear in other works at
various stages of their lives. However, an audience member who reads or sees a play performed is
afforded a window into the African-American experience of that time period.
The following overview provides a brief synopsis of each work:
Gem of the Ocean (1900s): focuses on the plight of newly freed slaves who struggle to adjust to their new
status while seeking solace in the northern home of Aunt Ester.
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (1910s): the title of this work, a refrain from a blues song, refers to newly
freed man in search of his estranged wife following his release from imprisonment.
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1920s): this play, set in 1920s Chicago, addresses the effects of racism within
the music industry.
The Piano Lesson (1930s): considered the playwright’s favorite production, this Pulitizer-prize winning
play focuses on the internal conflict a family faces as they wrestle for ownership a valuable family
heirloom, the piano.
Seven Guitars (1940s): this play, using the flashback technique, explores the death of one of the
characters and the meaning of self-respect and self-worth for African-American men.
Fences (1950s): Wilson’s first Pulitzer-prize winning play about an embittered African-American
baseball player who through societal forces must relinquish his dream due to prejudice.
Two Trains Running (1960s): set in a Hill District diner, the play addresses how the local residents cope
with change within their neighborhood during the Civil Rights Movement.
Jitney (1970s): urban renewal is the focus of this play as the residents of the Hill District neighborhood
fight to keep a local taxi dispatch office from demolition.
King Hedley II (1980s): this play revisits characters first introduced in Seven Guitars and focuses on an
ex-con’s attempt to buy a video store by engaging in criminal activity.
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Radio Golf (1990s): Wilson’s final play, this work centers around a Hill District resident whose ambitious
real estate and mayoral plans conflict with his knowledge about the true ownership of another resident’s
home.
Source: Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. August Wilson: A Literary Companion Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland,
2004.
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The Hill District
Setting plays a pivotal role in August Wilson’s plays. This is particularly relevant since the events of nine
of the ten plays occur in the predominately African-American neighborhood known as the Hill District (or
“The Hill”) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Hill District represents the importance of place and home
for August Wilson and his characters. Through the majority of the plays, Wilson depicts how this
geographical locale is impacted by external forces of an ever changing American society.
Image source: Google Maps
As a series of neighborhoods, the Hill District is the African-American cultural center of Pittsburgh. The
area was once affectionately called “the crossroads of the world” by the poet Claude McKay. Originally
the area was known as Farm Number Three when first owned by the grandson of William Penn.
However as time passed, the Hill District became a residential area and home to many immigrants. Many
African-Americans who left the South and journeyed to the North in search of improved social and
economic opportunities in what is known as the Great Migration settled in the Hill District as well.
As such, the Hill District became a vibrant community for African-Americans. A variety of businesses
flourished on the main thoroughfare, Wylie Avenue. A strong sense of community developed as residents
established close ties to each other. The residents took pride in their homes and community. The Hill
District became the home many of these people could not find in the segregated South due to pervasive
racism. All of this is noted in the majority of Wilson’s plays.
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However, the Hill District became a victim of urban renewal. Between the 1950s and 1980s, many areas
of the community were demolished due to its close proximity to downtown locations and the perceptions
of the buildings’ outdated and inefficient structures. As a result, many community members were forced
to sell their homes and were consequently displaced. Hill District residents were either pushed Upper Hill
section of the area or forced out of the area completely. To this date, the residents of the Hill District are
still coping with these changes and are slowly rebuilding the community.
Taken from: The Hill District: History
http://www.clpgh.org/exhibit/neighborhoods/hill/hill_n4.html
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African Americans and Baseball
Today, baseball is seen as a national pastime and fully integrated sports.
However, this was not always the case. Many African-Americans were
barred from playing the game due to racist and segregationist practices.
There were a few instances in which the color line barrier was broken
but for the most part, African-American baseball players had to fight to
establish their place and name recognition in the sport.
As early as the late-nineteenth-century, a few African-Americans
managed to cross the color line. In 1884, John W. “Bud” Fowler, a
professional player, signed on with the Stillwater, Minnesota club in the
Northwestern league. For a number of years, Fowler played on the
rosters of several minor league clubs.
(Image: Jackie Robinson)
Similarly in 1883, Moses “Fleetwood” Walker entered the scene by also participating in the Northwestern
league. Walker was known as an excellent catcher. He became the first African-American to play with a
major league franchise when the Toledo club joined the American Association in 1884.
However, the situation changed for Fowler, Walker, and other black players who were fortunate enough
to play baseball in 1890. The National Association of Baseball created a “gentleman’s agreement” which
prohibited African-American teams from participating in organized leagues for the next fifty years. This
agreement established a color line barrier in the sports world that would take years to dismantle.
One solution to this situation was the creation of all black baseball leagues. Several teams, such as the
Chicago Giants, the St. Louis Giants, and the Kansas City Monarchs, became popular. After World War
I, these and many other leagues firmly established baseball as the popular entertainment venue for urban
black populations. Most significantly, the sport’s popularity resulted in the creation of the Negro
National League in 1920, under the leadership of Andrew “Rube” Foster, owner of the Chicago American
Giants.
By the end of the Great Depression, there were several major black leagues, including the Negro National
League, the Negro Southern League, and the Negro American League. However, the Negro National
League in 1933 arrived on the scene to become the most noteworthy organization in the franchise’s
history. This is due in part to the athletic abilities of players such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Oscar
Charleston, and Cool Papa Bell. Furthermore, the popularity of the East-West All-Star Game played
yearly at Chicago’s Comiskey Park added further excitement to baseball’s appeal within the AfricanAmerican community.
Eventually, the color line barrier in baseball began to fold in 1946. Jackie Robinson, who had signed with
the Dodgers, made his debut with the Montreal Royals in the International League. Robinson’s presence
and awards created further opportunities for black players, such as Roy Campanella, Joe Black, Larry
Doby, and Don Newcombe, to participate in organized white leagues. By 1952, integration within the
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leagues had occurred and the popularity of all black leagues had declined due to a loss in talent and poor
revenue. By 1962, the Negro American League had completely shut down.
Taken from: Negro League History 101
http://www.negroleaguebaseball.com/history101.html
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Notable Historical Events in 1957
January


February

March
April
May
July
The first electric watch is introduced by Hamilton Watch Company
The first Frisbee is produced by the Wham-O Company
France prohibits the United Nations’ involvement in Algeria.

Jimmy Hoffa is arrested by the FBI and charged with bribery.

Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl is printed in England and later seized by U.S. customs officials
on an obscenity charger.


Senator Joseph McCarthy, who participated in the Red Scare, dies.
The Brooklyn Dodgers move their home base from New York to Los Angeles.

John Glenn establishes a transcontinental speed record by flying a supersonic jet from
California to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes, and 8 seconds.
September
 Orville Faubus, the governor of Arkansas, uses national guard troops to prevent AfricanAmerican students from enrolling in Central High School.
October

Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite, is launched by the Soviet Union.
November
 The film Jailhouse Rocks, starring Elvis Presley, makes its theatrical debut.
 The Cold War escalates as the Gaither Report recommends more missiles and fallout shelters.
 Sputnik II launches the first animal, a dog, into outer space.
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Fences Performance History
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Broadway premiere—May 26, 1987, at the 46th Street Theatre. The play closed on June 26,
1988, after 525 performances and 11 previews.
Original cast consisted of James Earl Jones as Troy Maxson and Mary Alice as Rose.
Awards include: Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
(James Earl Jones), Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play (Mary Alice), Best
Direction of a Play (Lloyd Richards), and the Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding New
Play.
Taken from: Famous Faces in Fences
http://www.theater.nytimes.com/2010/04/27/theater/27fencesgraf.html?_r=0
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Themes and Symbols
Self-Definition
Throughout the play, the characters, especially Troy and Cory, are constantly at odds about how they see
themselves as African-American men and as citizens within a segregated American society. They seek
ways to break away from prescribed notions about how they should function within society, oftentimes at
great cost to their inner souls.
Effects of Institutionalized Racism
Troy struggles throughout the play with the realization he never had a chance to participate in the
integrated baseball league due to race and age. He further struggles with his current employment status as
a garbage collector. He recognizes better possibilities exist for him but institutionalized racism has
determined his place. Troy also believes his son Cory is naïve to believe an opportunity to play football
is a viable escape from these conditions. The play suggests Troy’s angry response to Cory’s goals may be
driven from a need to love and protect or his son or, on a deeper level, envy that his son could do
something he only dreamed was remotely possible.
Responsibility
Throughout the play, the characters address the importance of responsibility. Troy tries to provide for his
family but when he acknowledges his affair with Alberta, his marriage further crumbles. Rose recognizes
Raynell needs a home and fulfills her responsibility as a caregiver, although at a great cost to her
marriage.
Death
References to death function as a symbol to illustrate Troy’s defiance against the obstacles his faces.
Troy constantly taunts death to challenges, illustrating his strength and resolve not to give into the societal
forces pressuring his life.
Baseball
This sport represents Troy’s dreams, which were deferred by the instituionalized racism of the time and
Troy’s late arrival to the time of integrated baseball teams due to his age. Baseball represents the best
times of Troy’s life as well as the end of his dreams.
Fences
Physical and metaphorical fences are used to illustrate how people build barriers around themselves.
Throughout the play, there are references to confinement, both physical and psychological, as seen
through the conflicts between the characters.
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Study Questions and Activities
The play begins with an interaction between Troy and Bono. What do we learn about these characters
from this scene?
How does Troy’s job as a garbage collector further contribute to his state of mind at the play’s beginning?
How would you characterize Troy and Rose’s relationship? How does this relationship evolve over the
course of the play?
The father-son relationship between Troy and Cory is crucial to the play. How would you characterize
this relationship? How do their conflicts with regarding work and sports define their relationship? What
is important to Troy? What is important to Cory?
Throughout the play, there are references to death and baseball. Using a specific scene as an example,
how do these references define Troy’s character?
What is significant about Gabriel’s presence and story in the play?
How is music used in the play?
How do references to historical events help you to understand the characters’ reactions to their personal
struggles?
What is your assessment of Rose’s character?
Throughout the play, there are references to fences, including the title. What is your interpretation of this
reference? Use one scene from the play to support your interpretation.
What is your assessment of Troy’s character? Sympathetic? Villain? Why?
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Further Readings
Bennett, Lerone, Jr., Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America. 8th ed. Chicago: Johnson
P, 2007. Print.
Elam, Harry Justin. The Past as Present In the Drama of August Wilson. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P,
2004. Print.
Bogumil, Mary. Understanding August Wilson. Columbia, S.C.: U of South Carolina P, 1999. Print.
Holway, John. Voices from the Great Black Baseball Leagues. New York: Da Capo P, 1992. Print.
Nelson, Kadir. We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball. New York: Jump at the Sun/
Hyperion Books for Children, 2008. Print.
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. August Wilson: A Literary Companion. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004. Print.
Williams, Dana A., and Sandra G Shannon, eds. August Wilson and Black Aesthetics. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Print.
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References
Andrews, William L., Frances Smith Foster, and Trudier Harris. The Oxford Companion to African
American Literature. New York: Oxford UP, 1997.
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. “The Hill District: History.” Carnegie Library. 2013. Web. 12 Oct.
2013.
“Famous Faces in Fences.” New York Times, 27 Apr. 2010. Web 01 Oct. 2013.
Negro Baseball League. “Negro League History 101.” 2003. Web 24 Sept. 2013.
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. August Wilson: A Literary Companion. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2004.
Print.